Since ultrapure water (UPW) is used throughout the semiconductor industry in a variety of applications, impurities need to be controlled as these will directly impact the quality and overall yield of semiconductor products. ICP-MS is often used to accurately quantify sub-ppt concentrations of impurities due to its ability to provide accurate quantification of elements at low concentrations.
This work demonstrates the fast, ultratrace analysis of elements whose detection limits are often compromised by argon-based interferences in UPW using the NexION 5000 Multi-Quadrupole ICP-MS. The use of hydrogen and a single plasma mode (Cold Plasma) allowed for analysis times as short as 116 seconds per sample to be achieved, supporting the rapid response needs for UPW analysis in semiconductor laboratories.